Loving Brothers
by imvdragon
Summary: NOT A ERAxMUR SLASH! Surprises threaten Murtagh and Ava's relationship after they return to the Varden, while Eragon and Dakota try to hide their feelings for each other. Ava and Dakota both struggle to love one of the two brothers. MurxOC EraxOC
1. Ch 1 Discovered

My first fan fiction, yippee! Sorry if this story doesn't make much sense, I kind of just wrote what came to my head and then modified it for the outside world.  
Anyway, this is very different from the books.

1. The "Varden" does not exist, instead there were many Resistances against the Empire and now only one is left.

2. In this version of the story Murtagh never got captured by the Urgals in the beginning of Eldest. This takes place in the same time period as when eldest began, but no Farthen-Dur battle.

3. NO ERAGON OBSESSED WITH ARYA. I always found that a wee bit creepy, well not creepy, but I think it was a bit forced. They just don't go together. End of story.

Again I apologize for my scattered writing, I have a lot of ideas that all want to come out in one big waterfall of randomness. *sigh* I must restrain myself.

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**_Loving Brothers_**

**Chapter One: Discovered**

The sound of stone on stone. _Clink, clink. _That was what was left of the soldier's soup. _Clink, clink._ Mud was more what the soup was; it could be for all they knew with its taste and texture so similar. _Clink, clink. _The troop of around sixty soldiers sat outside in a very large square courtyard fenced in by stone walls so high it was as if the soldiers were in a well. _Clink, clink. _The courtyard was the heart of a magnificent black stone fortress. _Clink, clink. _

There were a dozen small cooking fires in various places in the area. _Clink, clink. _Iron pots containing the soldiers soup simmered on each of the fires. _Clink, clink._ In the bottom right corner of the area was one fire in particular. _Clink, clink._ In front of it was a wooden chair that was slightly scorched on the right front leg, probably from a soldier's angry outburst that happens every so often and will follow by the said man being escorted away by the two Urgals guarding the main door that lead into the castle. _Clink, clink. _The Urgals guarded the door to Baen **(1)**, a fortress for the king of Alagaësia: Galbatorix. _Clink, clink. _After being escorted away terrible screams would follow and everything else would go silent as if someone pressed a mute button on the world. _Clink, clink. _

In Alagaësia many of these cruelties went on daily, almost all of them unnoticed by the tyrant king, Galbatorix. This is because he is the cause of Alagaësia's suffering. He ruled with a ruthless personality, not taking any rebellion against him lightly. All but one of the Resistances was destroyed by the evil king's vast army. Galbatorix's loyal army is made up of men taken forcefully from various villages that are sprinkled over the land of Alagaësia.

Most of the fires were down to their last coals and surrounded by soldiers swaying in their seats from exhaustion, waiting for the order that dinner was over and they could return to their bunks. _Clink, clink. _The fire in the bottom right corner of the courtyard was the last one to sustain some of it's previous spender. _Clink, clink._ Sitting on the burnt and broken chair was a soldier scraping the last of the soup out of her bowl, trying to get whatever nutrients there were in the thin broth._ Clink, clink. _Although she seemed to be intent on eating the meal that was served every night to the army that was supposed to be only of men, the girl was playing the part of one, she wasn't actually paying any attention to the task. _Clink, clink. _Her brown-blue eyes were more focused on listening to the whispers of the soldier sitting on the bench opposite her. _Clink, clink. _The soldier she was listening to had blue eyes and red hair cut short to disguise her gender, but not short enough to reveal her pointed elf ears which would certainly be the cause of her death in that place._ Clink, clink. _Her name was Arya and she was a princess in her homeland of Ellesméra, the Elvin capital. _Clink, clink. _Since she was an elf she had to be at least 100 years old, at the least, but no one knew for sure, it didn't seem right to ask. _Clink, clink. _Arya was speaking to the soldier on her left, who didn't seem to be paying attention to a word of what she was saying. _Clink, clink. _The soldier was around 18 years old and had her brown shoulder length hair tied in a bun and hidden beneath a black dirty bandanna so the men would think she was male._ Clink, clink. _Her hazel eyes were looking past the soldier sitting in the chair, rolling her eyes occasionally and mouthing what Arya was saying to her in an immature fashion. _Clink, clink. _Arya was too wrapped up in her own words to notice what the soldier, Ava, was doing, she just kept whispering urgently Ava's ear. _Clink, clink._

"And then we'll take a look at the weaponry room. You know, to see what we're up against. Then we can see the battle plans for any coming-" _Clink, clink._

"Will you just shut-up Arya!?" _Clink, clink. _Ava said in a barely contained whisper and whipped her head towards the startled elf. _Clink, clink. _Arya shot her an icy glare and frowned_. Clink, clink._

"She's right, someone is going to hear you."the soldier in the chair, who was 18 as well, leaned forward, whispered to her. _Clink, clink._

"Thank you Dakota." _Clink, clink. _Ava opened her arms wide. _Clink, clink. _

"Don't get any ideas Ava, that was way out of line." Dakota whispered furiously.

Arya gave a faint snort of disgust. _Clink, clink. _Dakota replied quietly,

"Don't do that Arya. If you always talk about our next plan then someone will hear or that Shade will find out, then all of the information we have gathered will be lost. We should wait until night before we-" _Clink, clink. _A man, wearing a black leather vest with red trim on top of a black long-sleeved shirt with standard military helmet on his head, walked over to the fire that Ava, Dakota, and Arya were sitting around followed by four other officers. _Clink, clink. _Dakota stopped in mid sentence and looked up, along with her friends. _Clink, clink. _

"You three, come with me." said the man sharply. _Clin- _The clinking of the spoons scraping bowls stopped and all the soldiers that were still conscious looked at the group like frightened rabbits would look at a fox. The man, seeing that the three soldiers weren't moving, turned towards his comrades and snapped his fingers. Three of the man stepped forward and each one grabbed the a pair of the woman's arms and pinned them to their backs so they could not move. The three men tied rope around the woman's wrists and shoved them along out of the courtyard. They shuffled down a dingy hallway, the walls covered in green mold creeping down from the cracks and edges of the ceiling to flow down to the floor. The men pushed the women pasted two stone doors on their right and then walked up to a wooden door and opened it.

Inside the room was a claw foot ebony table on the right wall of the room. Standing in front of the table was another general. The three men led Ava, Dakota, and Arya over to stand in front of the general while the two men who weren't charged with a lady walked over to stand beside the general.

"So! I hear you work for the Resistance?" The first general said very think accent.

Ava giggled and the general glared angrily at her. She coughed and looked up innocently at his irritated face. "What? Did I miss something? I couldn't understand you beneath all that idiotic thickness rubbed into your brain." The man holding Ava gave her a warning shake when he could see that a vein in the general's head was beginning to quiver.

"Watch it." The guard growled in her ear.

"It speaks at last." Ava turned as much as she could to look at the guard while in his death grip. Meanwhile Dakota and Arya could see that Ava was either distracting everyone or knew it was a lost cause to resist and was deciding to have some fun with it. Whichever it was they couldn't help giggles as the man in front of the table slowly turned beet red with every word coming out of her grinning mouth.

"ENOUGH!" The other officer who went and got them bellowed. "Bring them to the cells, now!" Arya, Ava, and Dakota were dragged by the men out of the room and down the hall, back the way they came. When they came to the first stone door the man holding Dakota said,

"Be lucky that you didn't go in there. That's the torture room." He gave a chuckle and started chortling to himself. The girls eyed each other and grimaced. At the second stone door one man produced a large silver key and unlocked the door while holding on to Arya with his bloated hand. The door swung open with a rusty screech that made the three women cringe. There was a flight of stairs leading down to the dungeon. It was not far down but the men controlled every movement that the woman that made so it was hard to move without being smacked against the hard stone wall. By the time that they reached the end of the short twelve step staircase the prisoners were covered in cuts and bruises. As soon as they reached the end of the short spiral staircase they took an immediate right and walked down the pitch black hallway until the came to a lit torch on the damp wall. Opposite the light source was an unoccupied prison cell. The man holding Ava gave her a quick kick in the shin to stun her, opened the cell door, and shoved her in. The two other men pushed Arya and Dakota in too. Ava glared at the man giving him the most venomous stare she could manage. Dakota lay on her side, wobbling about like a turtle. Arya was up on her feet, kicking the bars of their jail cell and screaming at their captors to be more courteous to the prisoners.

"You're trapping us like a mangy rat! Treating us no better than Durza treats the ground you walk on!" Arya screaming, furious at the way the way they had been manhandled the whole way down. She wouldn't have dared let her fury take her over like this on the way here since the men were armed and were not afraid to show it. Now their duty was done and Arya was no longer their responsibility. They didn't seem to give any response to her shouts that following them out of the dungeon. Arya huffed and moved to the corner of the cell mumbling to herself with her fists clenched. Ava looked confused, while Dakota wouldn't look at any one. She was curled up in a ball with her forehead rested on her knees and arms wrapped around them, giving herself comfort.

No one said so but there was a universal thought going on in all their heads. They were going to fail the Varden, the last Resistance band, and they were going to be tortured and killed doing that. They sat in the semi-dark, the only light coming from the torch in the hall by the stairs, each thinking their own thoughts. None of them heard the clunking of heavy boots coming down the stairs. A grunt from a person standing by the door interrupted their silence. The individual was wearing a sack over its head with slits for eyes and was so overweight that they couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. The "un-gendered" person pointed at Arya and grumbled while searching the hundreds of small buttoned pockets covering its coat. How someone could wear a coat in the stuffy dungeon was strange for a normal person, let alone someone burdened with layers of fat. Ava looked nervously at Arya but Arya didn't return her gaze. She stared with a glassy eyed look at the cell door and then stood up and walked over to it with a flat expression. The person had brought out a small rusty key and unlocked the door. Arya walked out of the women's prison hold and over to the opposite wall. The person had locked the door and then Arya ran. She started to howl with delight and then a large boot flew out and Arya sprawled on the solid stone floor with a cry of pain. The person reached down and grabbed one of Arya's legs and lifted her over its shoulder. Arya whimpered with the pain inflicted by the heavy metal toed boot and didn't even give Dakota and Ava a glance as she departed from the prisoner's keep. Dakota looked at the place where Arya used to be and muttered softly.

"She's not coming back." It was only a few minutes before it happened. Screeches of agony sounded across the fortress. Full blown wails of pain and suffering rang throughout the musty air of Gi'lead. They were like nails on chalkboard for the two companions, Ava and Dakota. They kept resounding around the prison walls like a lost bird for a good two hours, varying pitches with time. Dakota turned to Ava once the cries abruptly stopped.**(2)**

"She went through the first stone door, the torture room. If she told anything about the Varden everyone is in danger, especially our leader, Azjad."

"If she told anything then the screams would have faded away, not stop abruptly like they did." Ava replied dryly looking at the last spot she had seen Arya. "They'll be coming for us soon, and all we are doing is waiting for them to take us away." Ava said lying down on a pile of gray-green straw closest to her and closing her eyes, but didn't sleep. Both girls couldn't stop listening to the silent echoes of Arya's screams haunting their minds.

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(1) **This is not a real place in the Inheritance books. **I made it up because they never actually said what happens to the soldiers after they take them from the villages. I always wondered where simple farm boys learned to be deadly killers, and so Baen was born. For those of you who don't know, Baen means sorrow, sadness, grief, etc., in Paolini's Ancient Language.

(2) In case anyone was wondering, yeah, Arya died.

Please review, comment, whatever you do on this site I'm not sure yet. DX


	2. Ch 2 Rescue

_**Loving Brothers**_

**Chapter Two****: Rescue**

_CRASH! _Ava was startled awake from her nightmare by a deafening sound coming from the door of the prison cell. The torch that had given them a little light had been put out and she was temporarily blinded by the unexpected darkness. _CRASH! _The sound had woken Dakota too, who was huddled in a corner trembling, and fearing the worst. _CRASH! _The door of the cell clanged to the floor in a cloud of dust and blue light. Dakota squeezed as close to the wall of the corner of the room she could, hugging her knees to her chest. The cloud of dust cleared and standing there was a man about 20 years old with dark brown locks framing his dirt streaked face. He was wearing a long, coal-black cloak that reached down past his feet. He looked at Dakota huddled in the corner of the cell and frowned with a sad look on his face then his light brown eyes fell on Ava, he gave a half smile and relaxed his tense shoulders. Ava cocked her head slightly in confusion and then burst out in a grin as her eyes got used to the gloom,

"Murtagh!" She jumped up and wrapped the man in a hug which he gave back with a tight embrace, his hand on top of her head which was buried in his shoulder. They stood like that for a few moments, each soaking in the long missed love of the other. Murtagh laid his chin on top of Ava's head and closed his eyes, a pleased smile on his face. A boy around 17 emerged from the behind Murtagh, wearing a cloak identical to Murtagh's. He had short blonde hair and bright blue eyes with slits for pupils. His eyes darted around the cell and rested on Dakota who was terribly frightened that her friend was part of the enemy forces. She had never seen this people in her life, but even behind all her doubt she had a small flicker of a feeling that they were to be trusted. The boy looked at Murtagh hesitated a few moments to break him from the bonding moment but knew he had to, and said

"We are kind of on a quick schedule brother." Murtagh broke open from Ava, his hand around her waist not wanting to let her go, and coughed.

"Yes we should, uh, get going then." He tried to take on an air of authority but couldn't fool anyone that he was overjoyed to be near Ava once more. It was then that Ava took a look at Dakota, who was so confused at this whole ordeal, she started to explain,

"Oh, Dakota! These are friends of mine. Eragon" Ava pointed to the blonde haired boy who gave a wave and shuffled his feet obviously eager to get moving and introductions weren't getting them anywhere, "and his brother Murtagh. He's my-" Ava hesitated and looked up at Murtagh who smiled back, "my boyfriend." Ava said it as if it were a confession that she had finally let loose to the world. Dakota's head was spinning but she tried to keep it together because she could see that Eragon was chancing glances at her when he thought she wasn't looking.

_Maybe he likes me,_ she thought spontaneously.

"A-Alright." She shuddered, standing up and walking over to stand relatively next to Eragon who looked startled but stood his ground. He looked nervously toward her and Dakota gave him an "it's okay" half grin. He quickly looked at the ground, embarrassed that he made eye contact. Murtagh unhooked his hand from around Ava waist, with some regret, turned to Eragon with a serious face said,

"Eragon, can you talk to Saphira and run at the same time?" he paused and looked around the cell a puzzled expression. "Where is Arya?" Dakota hid her face beneath her hands and Ava whispered.

"She was taken and tortured for information, but didn't give any." Murtagh's eyes clouded over and Eragon's face tensed up. The atmosphere was of the common knowledge that she was dead. Eragon spoke as if nothing had happened, but still with a hard appearance.

"I can," he paused while he collected his emotions, "…talk to Saphira and move at the same time. We should get going." Murtagh knew that Eragon meant they had to get going, even with their loss. "Why do you need to know though?" Eragon questioned his brother.

Murtagh was about to start moving then he said, "I need you to ask Saphira if there is anyone onto us. If yes then tell her to stall them." Murtagh was going to move out again but he remembered something, "We might need her to pick us up at some point if trouble comes around, so can you tell her that." Eragon gave a nod and the pupils of his eyes went back to big black orbs that swallowed up the blue of his eyes. Murtagh turned to face Dakota and Ava.

"Since he can talk to her while we go, let's get out of this place. Just follow us we'll lead the way out." Ava nodded and followed him and Eragon out of the cell along with Dakota. For the second and last time the girls stepped on the stairs, Ava's shoulder was being held again but by a friendlier hand. While she and Murtagh brought up the lead, Dakota and Eragon lagged behind occasionally taking glances at the other. Eragon opened his mouth to say something but immediately shut it so as to keep the silent ties between them stable. They got to the top of the stairs and Eragon took Dakota's hand. Dakota looked down and their intertwined fingers and up at his half-grin face. She took her hand away and hurried past him, her fist clenched tight against her side.

_Why did I do that?_ she asked herself angrily. _Why did HE do that? I just met him. The boy's got some nerve._

They walked back toward where the courtyard was and saw no one, down the hall past the door and no one came. They were slowly becoming suspicious; there was no sign of any life. Murtagh and Eragon had pulled up their hoods and taken Ava and Dakota by the wrists. Should anyone appear it would seem that they were taking prisoners. Their unannounced plan was to pretend that they were taking them to Durza, the Shade. The party walked on unknowing of what could lie in wait of them. Eragon was the first to spot the door which would lead them out of Gil'ead. Every one of them was on edge. It was all going to well, something had to go wrong. They trotted over to the door, but before they could reach their final destination, nothing happened.

Dakota twisted the door knob, the door stayed stuck in place. Ava kicked the base of the door with such force that a resounding thud echoed throughout the fortress. Her eyes welled up with pained tears, she thought it would have budged even a little. The door stood still as if nothing had ever disturbed it.

"Stand back." Murtagh mumbled gruffly. Eragon, Dakota, and Ava took two huge steps backwards to keep well away from anything that the unpredictable man might have in mind for the stubborn door. He walked three steps away from the solid wood, waited a few seconds, and then rushed it with such speed Dakota's hair was blown about. Murtagh slammed against the door and nothing happened. Ava looked worried and took a step toward him; her eyebrows cast a shadow over her eyes. Murtagh gave her a grin and then fell to his knees. Ava rushed over and wrapped him in her arms.

"I'm alright Ava. Just a little woozy." Ava wasn't letting go until he proved it. Words were just sound when it came to Murtagh being hurt or anyone she knew for that matter. Eragon stepped forward with a frightened expression.

"Ava! Murtagh! Move, NOW!" he stepped toward them, "Letta!" he cast a spell in the ancient language and then helped Murtagh to his feet. Murtagh struggled and letting Ava support him hobbled over to the rest of their gang. Eragon released the flow of magic and moments later the wooden door fell with a gunshot loud bang Murtagh jumped away from Ava's hold, realizing how close they were from being underneath that 3 inch thick block of death.

"Thank you Eragon. We are just going to be saving each other lives from now on." Eragon grinned, even though he knew that with the spell he had cast the door wouldn't have killed either Ava or Murtagh.

"What are brothers for?" he said with a laugh. Murtagh chuckled and said more seriously

"Nothing's got us yet, let's keep it that way." Eragon nodded, his face not showing any sign he had just been laughing. Dakota went out first followed by Eragon. Ava motioned for Murtagh to go next; he lightly laid his hand on her shoulder.

"Beauty before me." Ava smiled and ran out the door. Murtagh looked left and right, put a hand on the hilt of the sword strapped to his belt then raced out to be swallowed by the night.

The group ran for the first mile, not wanting to take a chance of being followed. After that, Dakota collapsed and stated that she was finished they figured this was where there camp was going to be. Eragon set up the fire with sticks and Dragon Rider magic. Dakota didn't know what the strange word he used meant, but she did know that there was now a strong blaze keeping them warm. With Murtagh and Ava went off to do more, Dakota thought, then just gather sticks and she was left alone with Eragon. They sat on opposite sides of the flames, just staring and listening to the crackling. Eragon spoke first,

"Saphira, my dragon, is off hunting and we won't see her until tomorrow. I asked her to bring us something." An awkward silence settled over the camp. "Did you know I was a Dragon Rider?" he gave another shot at conversation.

"I knew there was a Dragon Rider at the Resistance. You are part of the Resistance, right?" Dakota asked realizing that their new friends didn't have to be part of the Varden to be good. Thankfully Eragon gave a couple nods then started to poke at the fire with a stray twig. Dakota heard voices in the surrounding woods and sat upright. Eragon copied her, pulling his bright red sword out of its case. As the voices got closer he stood up and got into a battling position and motioned to Dakota that she should get behind the fire. She didn't argue, since she was unarmed. The voices died down to whispers and could be distinguished as more than one person. Eragon quietly walked to the edge of the fire light and took camouflage behind a huge pine tree. He raised his sword behind his shoulder and waited for the people to come within range. Dakota realized that the fight would be two against one. She looked around for something that could help her. She spotted the tip of a burning tree limb. She got ready to take it up and throw it at the enemy. A cloaked figure appeared from the forest but no one was with it. Eragon swung his sword at the figure, a fatal blow, but was stopped in a clang of that person's sword. Eragon looked stunned, surprised and then guilty as the hood of the person's cloak was pulled back by the wearer to reveal Murtagh startled and angry.

"What the heck was that for Eragon!?" Murtagh exploded, furious that his brother had almost killed him.

"I thought…You were talking…It could have been…" Eragon stammered helplessly not able to explain himself. Dakota crawled out from behind the fire and stood by his side, ready to defend him. Ava appeared beside Murtagh her eyes shining with soon to be tears and her face twisted with anger. She was usually strong and never showed her feelings, but she was an inch from stumbling upon a dead body of the only person who loved her. She was beside herself with fury.

"You couldn't have even checked to see who it was!?" Ava yelled sending a nearby owl into the sky hooting with shock. "What if it was me or Murtagh hadn't blocked it and…and…" Ava's voice cracked and she fought back the startled tears that had appeared when she saw a sword coming down on him. She gulped in air and wiped her face with the back of her hand. This time Murtagh didn't wrap her in a comporting hug and for the first time she didn't want him to. Murtagh was outraged at his brother and repositioned his sword in his hand, even though Eragon and long put his away. He was ready to defend himself now that he had been turned on. Dakota spoke for the first time with some emotion.

"Eragon thought that you were Urgals or something that had followed us. We could hear you from the camp!" she ended her voice rising in volume with each word. Ava stood up taller so she reached half way up Murtagh's head. She wasn't going to make this fight the first one in her life that she lost. Eragon looked at his feet and shuffled them back and forth, not wanting to make eye contact. He was about turn away then he stared straight at Murtagh.

"You know I don't apologize so an apology from me is something true. I am truly sorry. Please don't make this a big event. I was only protecting Dakota from what I believed was a threat." Murtagh softened just as he had when he saw Ava in the cell.

"Thank you. That's what I wanted to hear." Ava gave Eragon a dirty look and then briskly walked over to an area right outside the firelight. She plopped down on her side with her back facing everyone. Murtagh sat on the opposite side of the fire and watched her. Eragon wandered over and lied down a little way away from Murtagh, facing the fire its refection dancing in his eyes. Dakota sat down next to Ava, and stared at the flickering light wondering what it was like to be her knowing that someone will always love you.

* * * * *

After an hour, Eragon and Ava were fast asleep; Ava had been stirred from her anger and been coaxed closer to the still blazing fire. Dakota no longer was fully conscious, she was in the place that you go when you are truly thinking about something that really matters. Dakota was thinking about Eragon and how she was starting to warm up to him, whether she liked it or not. Murtagh woke her from her suspended state.

"I'll put out the fire if we are just going to sit like this." This was the first time he had spoken to her and she was a bit startled. Her mouth hung open dumbly for a few seconds until she closed it.

"We can talk." He looked relieved to have something to do. Dakota looked at him, trying to imagine what had brought Ava and him together. Her curiosity got the best of her.

"How did you meet Ava?" she blurted out, sounding like a child asking their parents to tell the story of how they met.

"We've known each other since Ava joined the Varden." he smiled remembering the day he saw her. "Her family was murdered by the Urgals when she was around 13. She came back home one day to find only her father, barely alive, his last words were the location of the closest Resistance." Murtagh eyes now looked distant and far away. He shifted his position and continued; "Ava came here with nothing but dirty rags and a story, like all of us. I was the first one to spot her. I have been a part of the Varden since I was 10 years old. Eragon and I ran away from home to start a new life. Anyway she was so overwhelmed by all that had happened to her she started sobbing into my shoulder when Eragon and I went out to get her. I wrapped her in my arms and carried her inside where she slept in my bed. I keep wondering if it would have been the same if it was Eragon she had collapsed into instead of me." Murtagh turned to Dakota. "What's your story?"

She shrugged, "Same as hers mostly, a present for my 16th birthday was to find that my father was working for the king and had turned on my mother and two baby sisters, killing them all and then he came for me and I fled knowing about the Resistance, my mom had talked about it." Dakota paused "That's all this world is now, you know, death and betrayal." she sighed and said "You can put out the fire now, I'm going to sleep." Murtagh nodded and pored dirt on the flames, plunging them into darkness.

* * * * *

Sometime during the night Ava was startled awake by the presence of someone sitting by her head. She thought it was Dakota and was about to drift off when she realized that Dakota and Eragon were lying facing her on the opposite side of the dark ashes of the fire that had been out. Dakota was tucked against Eragon's stomach with his arm resting on her side. Ava forgot everything and was filled with sheer happiness at the scene. She was joyous for Dakota and Eragon and them being held unknowingly by love's grip in their slumber. They might have fallen asleep that way, either way the next morning was going to be interesting. Ava shut her eyes then a hand lay on her shoulder and she sat bolt upright wide awake. Murtagh sharply pulled back his hand frightened by her sudden moments, he relaxed when her gaze rested on him and it melted into bright back circles of black from the dark. He couldn't see her and she couldn't see him but they know the other was there. Murtagh put his hands on her shoulders and she leaned against his both looking up at the sliver of a moon hanging in sky.

"Beautiful night." he said, with a smile although she couldn't see it.

"Very." Ava replied warmly resting her head back.

"I know something more gorgeous then the stars, moon and all the planets combined." he said wrapping his arms around her waist. She grinned and turned to face him. Their lips met without another word, wrapping them in a passionate kiss. Ava twisted in her seat so she was sitting in Murtagh's lap. Her hands wrapped around his neck, pulling them closer together. Murtagh held the small of her back to keep her from slipping away. Unfortunately, they needed air and broke apart.

"I need to tell you something that I haven't told you in a while." Murtagh was panting and his face scarlet. _Good thing __it's dark out, I feel like an idiot. _he thought to himself.

"What?" Ava asked curiously, turning to watch his expression even thought the moon made it very hard to see.

"I…I…" _I love you. _he stuttered then dropped his voice. Ava frowned worriedly.

"Murtagh? What is it?" She was curious but also scared at the secret that her boyfriend had in store for her. "Is it something…bad?" Ava said hesitantly.

"No, no!" Murtagh coughed, wishing he had kept his mouth shut. Ava dropped it and lied back down in her previous position then drifted off into a troubled sleep wondering what Murtagh had to tell her.

* * * * *

Dawn rose and birds sang as if nothing had happened that night. Eragon woke to a squirrel crawling toward Dakota he shooed it away with his arm that was across her body. He stopped dead and jumped to his feet. _What happened last night? _He thought fearfully. Eragon scanned the campsite expecting to find a clue about anything that took place last night. Nothing aided him in his search; Murtagh was lying on his back with Ava's head on his chest, fast asleep. _No surprise there. _Eragon thought dryly and envied his brother for a second then remembered that he had tried to chop his head off and thought that he would rather be without the memory of near death. He gave up his search figured that Dakota had moved there on her own and then went to find breakfast. It was not long before he heard the familiar flapping of wings and felt a great rush of air that was the warning of Saphira landing. All memories of the previous day vanished and he ran to greet his dragon. Her scales shimmering with morning dew made her blue color shine splattering light on the surrounding trees. She tossed her large head, two cream colored horns growing on the top of her head matching the ones running along her spine. She rose on her hind legs and stretched her wings sending a shower of water raining down. Satisfied that her body was dry Saphira twisted her head around to get a better guess at her surroundings. Eragon sent her a telepathic message through the bond they shared as dragon and Dragon Rider. _You said you'd be back last night. _Saphira whirled around, startled at his appearance there. She grinned as much as a dragon can and replied. _I didn't want to wake you little one. _Eragon showed her back to their camp, Saphira dragging a deer in her jaws. By the time they got back everyone was awake and stumbling about. Murtagh had succeeded in starting a fire and was trying to coax it into something that could provide them some heat. The girls were sitting next to each other watching him work.

Eragon introduced Saphira to everyone before they entered the campsite. When she walked in Dakota let out a gasp and backed into outer the ashes of the fire making a clouds of dust shoot into air. Murtagh grumbled in annoyance at her, then gave Saphira a small bow and smiled, Saphira mimicked this grinning. Ava had seen Saphira, being friends with Eragon and gave her a nod in greeting. Saphira knew Eragon's feelings and immediately picked out Dakota as the one that he liked the most. Eragon blushed when Saphira told him what she knew and bent down pretended to be very interested in a small weed. Murtagh cried out in surprise and joy as a large flam erupted from the fire pit and continued burning.

_I could have done that myself. _Saphira said smugly. Murtagh looked at her in a mock annoyance. Saphira walked toward the fire and lay the deer meat next to it. Eragon, sensing there was something he could do, hurried off to find wood to make a spit. Ava helped Murtagh butcher the meat and when Eragon returned they cooked it and had breakfast.

When everybody had eaten their fill Murtagh spoke to Saphira.

"Do you think that you could carry us to the Varden?" Saphira snorted, blowing a ring of smoke. _Of course I can! _She projected the answer so everyone could hear, that was the only way that she could communicate was to telepathically talk. Saphira thought for a moment before she spoke choosing her words carefully as always, _All of you will have to hold on tight it will be cramped with four people. _Murtagh nodded and turned to Dakota.

"What do you think the order of people should be?" Dakota looked startled at being asked, what she thought, was an important question.

"Uh… I think…" She paused thinking hard. "Eragon should go first since he probably knows how to ride Saphira the best… um…" Dakota knew what she wanted to say next but changed her mind at the last minute. "Murtagh have you ever rode Saphira before?"

"Once or twice." Murtagh said proudly standing up straighter. Dakota didn't notice.

"Alright then you should go next in case something happens to Eragon then I can go then Ava." Dakota smiled finally finished. Ava was pondering why she had chosen this order. She pushed all accusations and jealous thoughts out of her mind and thought it must be because she had never been on Saphira before and didn't want to fall off. Saphira lay down and Eragon got on first. He shouted to Murtagh,

"Come on Murtagh! We don't have all day!" Murtagh stood still, and then with a stiff glance at Dakota he climbed on too. Dakota followed him on and wrapped her arms around his waist. Murtagh rolled his eyes and fidgeted hoping that Ava would forgive him. Ava clambered up her mind on Dakota instead of the present. She pulled herself past Saphira's wing and sat behind her friend and held onto the spike in front of her rather than Dakota's shoulders. With a jump into the air and a single beat of her wings they were off into the clear sunny sky. They flew for a good 3 hours until they could see the Beor Mountains and then the waterfall that was the secret entrance to the Varden, new beginnings and the rescue's end.

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Yay! My OC's are rescued! ^-^ I apologize if Eragon and Murtagh seem out of character. I tried my best. Fair well for now 3


End file.
